Photo: “The Future is Not Set” -Kyle Reese quoting John Connor from The Terminator (1984)

A folded document fell on my lap while turning through the pages of a book I had not glanced through in a year. It was a test print for a brand new printer and the cryptic quotation that Kyle Reese delivers to Sarah Connor inside a dark tunnel in The Terminator was fresh in my mind.

…
I am no stranger to the Terminator franchise. T2 was released the summer of nineteen ninety one and I was one of thousands who rushed to the theater to laugh when Arnold said, “I’ll be back.” The young John Connor character was close enough in age to be relatable while still being a role model. The shape shifting, T-1000 police officer still gives me nightmares.

The first Terminator movie came out before I was born and the first time I had ever seen the film was last year, which is fitting considering time travel is integral to the story’s plot.
…

The folded document read:

“Thank you,
for your courage
through the dark years.

I can’t help you
with what you must
soon face,

except to say that
the future is not set.

You must be stronger
than you imagine
you can be.

You must survive,
or I will never exist.

That’s all.”
-future John Connor

The words resonated in the eighties and they resonate in the present day for a multitude of reasons. They helped motivate me through the dark December of last year and I know they will carry me through this one.

Be stronger.


.::.
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